Denver Broncos roster got a lot younger in 2018
The Denver Broncos’ roster got significantly younger in 2018 than it was in 2017. We take a look at some of the big switches…
Out with the old, in with the young.
That was apparently the theme of the Denver Broncos’ offseason in 2018, as they got rid of a number of aging players and replaced them with young guys.
This could provide a significant change of pace from what we saw a season ago when the Broncos seemingly refused to play some of their young players in favor of veteran guys.
In 2017, the Broncos’ average player age was 26.02. That number has dropped to 24.96 this offseason.
The Broncos obviously just brought in 18 rookies between the draft and undrafted free agency who help lower that total, but it took cutting bait with some players to get that age average down more than a full year.
At the quarterback position, the Broncos replaced 26 and 27-year old quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler with 30-year old Case Keenum.
They also brought in 29-year old punter Marquette King to replace 24-year old Riley Dixon.
The offensive and defensive line added 30-year old Jared Veldheer and 31-year old Clinton McDonald respectively.
Otherwise, the Broncos opted to either add youth or replace age with youth.
At running back, 27-year old C.J. Anderson and 31-year old Jamaal Charles were replaced by 22-year old Royce Freeman and a pair of 23-year olds in Phillip Lindsay and David Williams.
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Two star wide receivers at 30 years of age or older (Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders) were kept, but the Broncos brought in 22-year old Courtland Sutton and 23-year old DaeSean Hamilton among others to compete.
Virgil Green, a 29-year old tight end, has been replaced by 23-year old Troy Fumagalli.
Defensively, the Broncos got younger at the cornerback position when they let go of 32-year old Aqib Talib, replacing him with 29-year old Tramaine Brock and 22-year old Isaac Yiadom.
With the roster moves to adjust the average age of the team, hopefully, the Broncos will show some more faith in their young players this season.
Especially compared to last year.
In what amounted to a lost season, the Broncos were overly committed to veteran players, many of whom ended up getting hurt throughout the course of the year.
The decision to basically put a redshirt on Carlos Henderson was frustrating, but to do the same for guys like second-round pick DeMarcus Walker and third-round pick Brendan Langley along with exciting sixth-round pick De’Angelo Henderson was mind-boggling.
The youth movement is on in Denver, with a significant majority of the roster being 25-years old or younger.
Denver’s youngest player is 20-year old linebacker Jeff Holland, who will not turn 21 until the start of the 2018 season. Bradley Chubb is the second youngest player on the team at 21.